Saturday, August 02, 2014

"WE CAN NOT BE ASSOCIATED WITH THIS"

This is the beginning of the end for Israel. Serious splits developing among the American people and now even in the mainstream media.

With the coming starvation and disease that will be the next crisis in Gaza (having been intentionally created by Israel's genocide policy) there will be an even stronger global outcry.

The days of Israel getting away with anything they want are over. And now the US will have to wear this 'wreath of death' in Gaza around its neck as well because it is the US that pays for this operation.

DISECTING MEDIA MANIPULATION

Afshin Rattansi goes underground with filmmaker and author John Pilger
as he challenges Western mainstream media spin. He warns that ‘to be
informed by it is not an option’ because of censorship, omission and
distortion of the facts. Whilst other stories overtake it, we find out
the death toll in Libya is still rising. We discover why illegal
immigrants were prevented from smuggling themselves OUT of Britain. We
look at whether Cameron is privatising the NHS by selling it to doctors
and nurses. And as the IDF offensive on Gaza continues, are media
attitudes softening whilst those of the government harden?

US-EU INTEND TO MAKE MORE WAR IN UKRAINE

Despite the Ukrainian conflict claiming more lives every day, Kiev is
getting further support from its Westen backers. The Obama
administration now plans to train and equip National Guard fighters,
while the EU's quietly lifting a ban on supplying Ukraine with weapons.

Friday, August 01, 2014

FEEDING THE MARCHERS ON JEJU

Those behind the scenes who did the work to feed the hundreds of people during the Grand March for Life & Peace on Jeju Island, South Korea. The event concluded just as a major typhoon is heading toward the island.

THE OTHER (U.S. SUPPORTED) GENOCIDE

Panikhida - A Panikhida is a memorial service which is a liturgical
solemn service for the repose of the departed, in the Eastern Orthodox
Church. Dedicated to all those killed in Eastern Ukraine (Novorossiya): Children, women, old people, men, militia and soldiers.

I WAS SENT TO PALESTINE

The talk by Eran Efrati was filmed in Denver, Colorado on March 3, 2014
as part of The Soldier and the Refusenik U.S. tour with Maya Wind. Eran
talk about his experiences in the IDF and then more broadly discusses
Israel, its relationship to the U.S. and the global expansion of
militarism.

Eran Efrati, 28, was born and raised in Jerusalem.
After graduating high school he enlisted in the IDF, where he served as a
combat soldier and company sergeant in Battalion 50 of the Nachal
Division. He spent most of his service in Hebron and throughout the West
Bank. In 2009, he was discharged and joined Breaking the Silence, an
organization of veteran Israeli soldiers working to raise awareness
about the daily reality in the Occupied Territories. He worked as the
chief investigator of the organization, collecting testimonies from IDF
soldiers about their activities. He also guided political tours and to
the West Bank and worked to educate Israeli youth about the reality of
being a soldier in an occupying army. His collected testimonies appear
in the booklet "Operation Cast Lead" and their most recent release "Our
Harsh Logic". Since leaving Breaking the Silence, his investigative
reports appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post and The
Guardian. Today he is active with the Israeli groups Anarchists Against
the Wall and Boycott from Within.

GAZA TURKEY SHOOT

Thursday, July 31, 2014

ISRAEL IS JUST SO DAMN THOUGHTFUL

Running Orders

by Lena Khalaf Tuffaha

They call us now.
Before they drop the bombs.
The phone rings
and someone who knows my first name
calls and says in perfect Arabic “This is David.” And in my stupor of sonic booms and glass shattering symphonies still smashing around in my head I think "Do I know any Davids in Gaza?" They call us now to say Run. You have 58 seconds from the end of this message. Your house is next. They think of it as some kind of war time courtesy. It doesn’t matter that there is nowhere to run to. It means nothing that the borders are closed and your papers are worthless and mark you only for a life sentence in this prison by the sea and the alleyways are narrow and there are more human lives packed one against the other more than any other place on earth Just run. We aren’t trying to kill you. It doesn’t matter that you can’t call us back to tell us the people we claim to want aren’t in your house that there’s no one here except you and your children who were cheering for Argentina sharing the last loaf of bread for this week counting candles left in case the power goes out. It doesn’t matter that you have children. You live in the wrong place and now is your chance to run to nowhere. It doesn’t matter that 58 seconds isn’t long enough to find your wedding album or your son’s favorite blanket or your daughter’s almost completed college application or your shoes or to gather everyone in the house. It doesn’t matter what you had planned. It doesn’t matter who you are Prove you’re human. Prove you stand on two legs. Run.

MORE EXTERMINATION TALK

This Ukrainian Nazi journalist is named Bogdan Boutkevitch. He is
a well-known Nazi reporter who writes frequently for Nazi publications
such as Ukrainian Weekly and appears regularly on Nazi TV. The TV station that aired his interview, Hromadske TV, is 100% funded by the US Embassy (in other words, the CIA), the Dutch Embassy (Dutch intelligence) and George Soros.

Donbass means eastern Ukraine where the Russian speaking people (the certain "category of people" he refers to) live who are now under attack from the US-NATO backed Kiev regime.

Listen to this from one of the voices who calls for extermination of those in eastern Ukraine. Just like we see with the Israeli genocide of people in Gaza (fully supported by the US), it's the same game in Ukraine.

Picture on the wall reads fascism folks.

When he says Donbass should be used as a "resource" he is talking about plans for corporate fracking, Monsanto GMO planting, the coal deposits there, and a military base for NATO operations right on the Russian border.

EVIDENCE POINTING TOWARD KIEV SHOOTDOWN

I think it is obvious who benefited from the false flag story that Russia or the Ukraine self-defense forces shot this plane down. The US has never looked back from demonizing Putin for this crime. No wonder the US backed Kiev regime has been shelling the downed plane debris field in recent days - trying to destroy the evidence and keep inspectors away - all the while blaming it on Moscow.

I HEAR IT COMING

On Facebook today you can see the signs that many activists are feeling that it is hopeless to take on the military machine and stop carnage like in Gaza. They care deeply and are outraged, but like me they have no easy answers.

It's going to take a mind shift for most Americans to step out and demand an end to the utter madness being perpetrated by our government which is run by corporations. Classic fascism...or call it feudalism. We've all been there before.

First they came
for the communists
but I was not a commie
so no big deal

Then they came
for the Palestinians
I was sympathetic
but that 'Hamas' thing
gets sticky,
cause we don't want
to be accused of being
a terror monger,
now do we?

Then they came for
the folks on Jeju
yeah I noticed them
always dancing
caught my eye
but who cares?
what can I do?

Then they came
for the Malaysians
what's the deal there?

make them hate
the Russians and Chinese?
They have to choose sides now
or they get flipped next?

In the White House
and Brussels
and London
and 'Gay Paree'
plans are hatched
to keep the white
western oligarchs
in control

This war
is a war
between oligarchs
for final control
of what is left
after they dump
the rest of us
into the shitter

So yeah I see
it coming
like a fucking
freight train
when your neck is on the tracks
I hear it coming
for sure

THIS IS PURE EVIL

They finally made me cry
today
this video
shows
two ambulances
driving up
to rescue wounded
Palestinians
they get shelled
this is pure evil
it is demonic
and was done
on purpose

Israel has the
Palestinians
inside a fishbowl
and is picking
them off at will
it's pure evil

The Obama team
plays good cop
bad cop
makes statements
calling for ceasefire
then sends Israel
more ammunition
that is pure evil
but they get
away with it
because we here
in the US let them
and that is pure evil

UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East) Christopher Gunness breaks down in tears on live TV after attack on UN school in Gaza

SOLIDARITY JEJU STYLE

Once again during this hot summer the folks on Jeju, South Korea are walking around their island home in the Grand March for Life and Peace. They continue to protest against construction of a Navy base that will port US nuclear aircraft carriers, destroyers, and nuclear submarines that will all be aimed at China and Russia.

Their unwavering determination is remarkable. But even more remarkable to me is the banner just above that links their effort to the struggles in Palestine and Ukraine where thousands of people are being killed by US-backed fascist regimes based in Tel Aviv and Kiev. Even as bogged down as they are in Gangjeong village the movement there still has time to see the wider picture and to wrap Palestine and Ukraine in their spirit of love. Amazing example of true solidarity.

The Korean people know something about fascism - having been brutally occupied during WW2 by imperial Japan. Once the war was over, and the US took military control of Korea, the Pentagon installed Koreans who had collaborated with the fascist Japanese as the new 'leaders' of Korea. Those same forces then proceeded to kill as many as 30,000 people on Jeju Island who stood up against the fascist dictatorship implanted by Washington.

This spirited and non-violent campaign in Gangjeong village on Jeju Island is one that we should all be supporting in any way that we can. My heart is with all the people there as they walk around Jeju saying No Navy Base! Protect the nature! Remember our ancestors who are buried along our coast line! Defend our simple way of life! Protect the peace!

EACH PERSON HAS A STORY

ISRAEL PROVOKED THIS WAR

Given his background, what American Jewish leader Rabbi Henry
Siegman has to say about Israel’s founding in 1948 through the current
assault on Gaza may surprise you. From 1978 to 1994, Siegman served as
executive director of the American Jewish Congress, long described as
one of the nation’s “big three” Jewish organizations, along with the
American Jewish Committee and the Anti-Defamation League. Born in
Germany three years before the Nazis came to power in 1933, Siegman’s
family eventually moved to the United States. His father was a leader of
the European Zionist movement that pushed for the creation of a Jewish
state. In New York, Siegman studied the religion and was ordained as an
Orthodox Rabbi by Yeshiva Torah Vodaas, later becoming head of the
Synagogue Council of America. After his time at the American Jewish
Congress, Siegman became a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign
Relations. He now serves as president of the U.S./Middle East Project.
In the first of our two-part interview, Siegman discusses the assault on
Gaza; the myths surrounding Israel’s founding in 1948; and his own
background as a German-Jewish refugee who fled Nazi occupation to later
become a leading American Jewish voice; and now vocal critic of Israel’s
policies in the Occupied Territories.

"When one thinks that this is what is necessary for Israel to
survive, that the Zionist dream is based on the repeated slaughter of
innocents on a scale that we’re watching these days on television, that
is really a profound, profound crisis — and should be a profound crisis
in the thinking of all of us who were committed to the establishment of
the state and to its success," Siegman says. Responding to Israel’s
U.S.-backed claim that its assault on Gaza is necessary because no
country would tolerate the rocket fire from militants in Gaza, Siegman
says: "What undermines this principle, is that no country and no people
would live the way that Gazans have been made to live … The question of
the morality of Israel’s action depends, in the first instance on the
question, couldn’t Israel be doing something [to prevent] this disaster
that is playing out now, in terms of the destruction of human life?
Couldn’t they have done something that did not require that cost? And
the answer is, sure, they could have ended the occupation."

WE ARM THE WORLD

Could it be considered that the US understands that arming all sides in the Middle East creates chaos which then heightens arms sales profits and allows Israel to justify smashing the Palestinian people?

America's job #1 in the world today is 'security export' and is very good at it. Increasingly we find that the economies of most states and local communities are dependent on military production.

We've become a killer nation.

Isn't it time we got serious about converting the military industrial complex - let's build rail systems and a solar society. It won't happen unless the people repeatedly demand it.

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

WAR ON JOURNALISM

In a new report, Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties
Union warn that "large-scale surveillance is seriously hampering
U.S.-based journalists and lawyers in their work." The report is based
on interviews with dozens of reporters and lawyers. They describe a
media climate where journalists take cumbersome security steps that
slows down their reporting. Sources are afraid of talking, as aggressive
prosecutions scare government officials into staying silent, even about
issues that are unclassified.

For lawyers, the threat of surveillance
is stoking fears they will be unable to protect a client's right to
privacy. Some defendants are afraid of speaking openly to their own
counsel, undermining a lawyer's ability provide the best possible
defense. Democracy Now speaks to Alex Sinha, author of the report, "With Liberty to
Monitor All: How Large-Scale U.S. Surveillance is Harming Journalism,
Law, and American Democracy,” and to national security reporter Jeremy
Scahill.

FIELD TESTING US-ISRAEL SYSTEM OVER GAZA

Israel’s Iron Dome: a misplaced debate

By Subrata Ghoshroy

Back in 2012, Israel’s Iron Dome
rocket defense system was hailed as a real, working battlefield weapon
that could shoot down unguided rockets before they struck Israel. Iron
Dome was lauded as a game changer in the Israel-Palestine conflict; at
the time, Israel claimed that it shot down 441 Hamas rockets in flight,
before they could do serious damage. Admittedly, normal life in Israel
was disrupted, as its citizens had to scamper to bomb shelters when the
siren sounded, but that was held to be acceptable. Israeli casualties
were negligible in comparison to more than 1,000 Palestinian deaths.

The
more things change, the more they stay the same. This time around, the
rockets continue to be launched, there continues to be incredible claims
about this supposedly infallible anti-rocket system, and one side
continues to have far more casualties than another. And few media
outlets examine the deep-seated reasons why Hamas continues to launch
rockets into Israel from Gaza, and why even a highly effective Iron Dome
would not stop the rockets.

Iron Dome PR. For
the current conflict, Israel has reportedly improved Iron Dome, claiming
that the system intercepts 90 percent of the rockets that it attempts
to hit. It is true that there have been only two Israeli civilian
casualties so far (one from mortar fire), which buttresses claims of the
success of Iron Dome. Yet, while citizens of distant Tel Aviv and other
cities far from Hamas’ Gaza-based rocket launch sites are now able to
lead normal lives, people continue to run toward bomb shelters in areas
closer to the action.

And well they should.

As readers of the Bulletin's “Iron Dome: the public relations weapon”
are aware, there have been many inflated claims about the system’s
efficacy. As much as anything, what’s kept the Israeli death toll low is
a well-run and efficient civil defense system, along with the fact that
most Gaza-launched rockets fall harmlessly in open fields in the
sparsely populated parts of southern Israel. What’s more, the incoming
rockets are, technologically speaking, just a few steps above homemade
fireworks in terms of their guidance systems, despite their payload’s
potential to cause grave harm. The rockets follow a simple trajectory
that is easily determined by the position and angle of the launcher and
propellant. So, once fired, they are quickly tracked by Israeli radar.

Once
spotted, Israel Defense Forces can respond by firing a Tamir—Iron
Dome’s interceptor missile—with its own small radar inside that
pinpoints the final moments of flight toward the target rocket and its
warhead. When the radar guides the Tamir close enough, the interceptor’s
payload explodes and the resulting shrapnel cloud punctures the target
rocket’s warhead, which then disintegrates several kilometers high in
the air.

It
is hard to confirm or rebut this idea because so far, Israel has not
exhibited any parts of the rockets that it downed, nor displayed those
duds that fell harmlessly to the ground without exploding. Press reports
indicate that Hamas has launched Iranian-made Fajr-5 rockets, but no
evidence of their presence has been forthcoming. (It is possible that
Hamas may have cut back on the size of the explosive payload to increase
the rockets’ range and show that they can threaten important, far-away
Israeli cities like Tel Aviv or Haifa.) Interestingly, no rocket casings
have been shown that contain markings of Iranian origin, which would
make a good propaganda coup for Israel. This absence is worth noting.

Media
reports have largely focused on the growing capabilities of Hamas’
rockets, noting that the Fajr-5 has a range between 45 km and 75 km.
This factoid makes for good press because it shows Iran is continuing to
help Hamas. But the reality of this is unlikely, because Hamas had a
falling-out with Iran’s ally Syria, which resulted in Hamas leaders
being expelled from Damascus.

Another indication of the improbability of Hamas using Iranian rockets comes from a BBC News analysis which
pointed out that there are huge logistical problems to using the
Fajr-5. At 6 meters (some 20 feet) tall, it is heavy and fairly large,
requiring mechanical handling. The Fajr-5 needs to be pre-positioned in
hidden launch sites and camouflaged from the prying eyes of Israeli
drones.

Similar arguments can be made against Hamas using the
Syrian-made M-302, a large rocket with a reported range of 160 km, or
long enough to reach Haifa.

In
theory, Iron Dome could possibly intercept these shorter-range rockets,
due to the Gaza rockets’ low speeds. Much like the Patriot interceptor,
Iron Dome is essentially an upgraded air defense system, designed to
shoot down both aircraft and missiles. The maximum speed of an F-16
fighter, for example, is 1,500 mph, at which it is easily overtaken by a
3,500 mph Patriot missile, as was the case in two friendly fire
incidents during the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Meanwhile, the flight
time of a Gaza rocket with a range of about 15 miles is about 1,350 mph.
So, if Iron Dome is even close to a Patriot missile interceptor in
speed, its ability to at least catch up with low-speed Gaza rockets may
have some credibility. (Iron Dome’s ability to counter longer-range
rockets that have a higher speed is yet to be tested. The Scud missiles
launched by Iraq under Saddam Hussein traveled at 4,000 miles per hour;
the Patriot system did not perform well against them.)

Regardless,
the aura of Iron Dome invincibility was unmistakably undermined on July
22, when a Hamas rocket landed near Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport,
causing chaos. US and European airlines temporarily stopped flying to
Israel due to safety concerns.

The rockets continue. Israel
has been countering the rocket threat from Gaza since 2006. Back then,
Hamas launched rockets, shorter in range than those used now, that
occasionally caused damage to Israeli towns close to the border with
Gaza. In response, Israel targeted Gaza’s makeshift rocket factories,
launcher sites, and fighters. In 2008, Israel launched Operation Cast
Lead, a massive ground invasion to clean out Gaza; it caused more than
1,300 Palestinian deaths and led to the capture of numerous Hamas
fighters. While this brought temporary quiet, it didn’t last. In 2012,
Israel again launched a brutal air campaign in response to rocket fire
from Gaza, Operation Pillar of Defense, in which Palestinian casualties
numbered well over 1,000—many of them children.

After just 18
months, Israel has embarked on a bombing campaign once more, this time
called Operation Protective Edge. Like the operations before, its
purpose is to stop “the rocket fire once and for all,” Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu said. The bombardment’s intensity—far greater than in
2012—resulted in Palestinian casualties of more than 1,000 dead and
5,000 wounded as of the time of this writing. Most casualties have been
civilians, including women and children who have no place to hide in
small, crowded Gaza. Israel has hit not only residential buildings, but
also mosques, schools, and even hospitals. (To be fair, in such
circumstances, Hamas fighters are inevitably cheek-by-jowl with
civilians, making it hard to hit the one without striking the other.)
Still, the rocket fire has not stopped; more than 1,000 rockets
reportedly were fired since the conflict’s beginning on July 8.

Short
of reoccupying Gaza, there is little chance that Israel can eliminate
the threat of rocket fire “once and for all” through military action. As
a show of defiance, a week ago, Hamas flew a drone that penetrated
Israel’s southern airspace, flying for some time before being detected
and shot down with a Patriot missile, which is even more expensive than
the Iron Dome interceptor, said to cost some 100 times what a Gaza
rocket might. It is the Palestinians, however, who pay the ultimate
price. In addition to those killed and wounded, Gaza has more than
100,000 internally displaced residents who have no other place to go,
worsening the humanitarian crisis engulfing the strip.

Most of the
media attention in the United States has focused on Hamas rockets—only 3
percent of which have actually reached populated areas, causing little
damage—with not as much paid to Palestinian casualties, or to the
reasons Gaza’s residents support the Hamas rocket campaign.

The world’s largest open-air prison. The
Gaza Strip consists of just 139 square miles of land, but it has 1.8
million people. The population density in Gaza City—and in refugee camps
like Khan Younis, where most Gazans live—could reach 435,000 people per
square mile. In comparison, the population density of Manhattan is just
67,000 people per square mile, according to the United Nations Relief
Agency in Gaza. Compounding the density problem, Gaza is effectively a
prison with no exits.

The Palestinians in Gaza live under lockdown
and have endured terrible economic deprivations, psychological
pressures, dehumanization, and a sense of hopelessness from which they
have found no escape. For many, life is not worth living. Under these
circumstances, can anyone blame a Palestinian if he or she chooses to
join the “resistance,” as they call it? In this completely asymmetric
conflict, crude rockets seem to be the only way for Palestinians to
redeem a minuscule amount of self-esteem.

So, Americans are
focusing on the wrong problem. Whether or not Iron Dome works, it does
not give Israel more security. To gain real security, Israel needs to
end the lockdown on Gaza and get serious about achieving a just and fair
deal with the Palestinians. The status quo is not sustainable.

- Ghoshroy
is a research associate at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology's Program in Science, Technology, and
Society. Before this, he was for many years a senior engineer in the
field of high-energy lasers. He was also a professional staff member
of the House National Security Committee and later
a senior analyst with the Government Accountability Office.

WORDS FROM A RIGHT-WINGER

July 28, 2014 "ICH" - With the party united, the odds are now at least even that the GOP will not only hold the House but also capture the Senate in November.

But before traditional conservatives cheer that prospect, they might take a closer look at the foreign policy that a Republican Senate would seek to impose upon the nation.

Specifically, they should spend time reading S. 2277, the “Russian Aggression Prevention Act of 2014,” introduced by Sen. Bob Corker on May 1, and endorsed by half of the Senate’s GOP caucus.

As ranking Republican on the foreign relations committee, Corker is in line to become chairman, should the GOP take the Senate. That makes this proposal a gravely serious matter.

Corker’s bill would declare Moldova, Georgia, and Ukraine “major non-NATO allies” of the United States, move NATO forces into Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, accelerate the building of an ABM system in Eastern Europe, and authorize U.S. intelligence and military aid for Ukraine’s army in the Donbass war with Russian-backed separatists.

If Putin has not vacated Crimea and terminated support for Ukraine’s separatist rebels within seven days of passage of the Corker Ultimatum, sweeping sanctions would be imposed on Russian officials, banks and energy companies, including Gazprom.

Economic relations between us would be virtually severed.

In short, this is an ultimatum to Russia that she faces a new Cold War if she does not get out of Ukraine and Crimea, and it is a U.S. declaration that we will now regard three more former Soviet republics – Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia – as allies.

A small, weak country might accept this dictation from a superpower.

But Russia, where anti-Americanism is virulent and rampant and the Russian people support Putin’s actions in Ukraine, would want him to tell the Americans just what to do with their ultimatum.

And how Russia would respond is not difficult to predict.

Our demand that she get out of Crimea and leave her two-century-old naval base at Sevastopol in the custody of President Petro Poroshenko in Kiev and his U.S. allies, would be laughed off.

Putin would tell us that Crimea has voted to return to Russia. It’s ours, and we’re going to keep it. Now deal with it.

To make good on our latest red line, we would have to start shipping weapons to Kiev, in which case Russia, with superior forces closer, would likely move preemptively into East Ukraine.

What would our NATO allies do then?

The U.S. directive to the State Department to work with NGOs in Russia, blatant intervention in the internal affairs of a sovereign nation, would be answered with a general expulsion of these agencies from Moscow.

We would not sit still for this kind of open subversion in the United States. What makes us think they would?

And where do we come off telling the Russians what kind of government they may have? Do we do that with our friends in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait? Is there more freedom in Egypt, to which we send billions annually in foreign aid, than in Russia?

Is there more freedom in China?

How do we think Beijing would respond if Corker & Co. openly declared not only their right but their intent to funnel U.S. funds to civic organizations to bring about an end to single-party Communist rule?

The Russian people, today backing Putin by 80 percent, seem happier with their government than we Americans do with ours.

But it may be this idea of installing a ballistic missile defense, an ABM system, in Poland and the Czech Republic, that is most dangerous of all.

Putin has already signaled that this would cross his red line, that if we start implanting antimissile missiles in Eastern Europe, he will reply by installing offensive missiles.

The Reagan-Gorbachev INF treaty to eliminate all intermediate-range nuclear missiles from Europe – the USSR’s triple-warhead SS-20s, and our Pershing II and cruise missiles – could wind up in the dumpster.

We could have a mini-Cuban missile crisis in Eastern Europe.

And how would our German allies react to Russian missiles rising in Kaliningrad, the former Prussian capital of Konigsberg, wedged between Lithuania and Poland?

Russia and Ukraine have been like Siamese twins for a thousand years. When, where and how did they separate and become our strategic concern?

Under Obama, the U.S. has declined to intervene in civil wars in Syria, Ukraine and Libya, or to go back in force in Iraq. He is pulling us out of Afghanistan.

The American Imperium is folding up. Retrenchment is underway.

If the Republican counteroffer to Obama’s is a return to the compulsive interventionism of Bush II, this is where some of us will be getting off.

- Patrick J. Buchanan is the author of the new book "The Greatest Comeback: How Richard Nixon Rose From Defeat to Create the New Majority." To find out more about Patrick Buchanan and read features by other Creators writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Web page at www.creators.com

Monday, July 28, 2014

REMEMBERING

THE US NUCLEAR TEAM

THE OVERTHROW OF HAWAIIAN KINGDOM

My latest show talking with Jon Olsen from Jefferson, Maine about Hawaiian sovereignty. John has lived in Maine for 36 years and Hawaii for 36 years and remarkably connects Maine to the overthrow of the Hawaiian kingdom in the late 1800's. Jon has just written a book called "Liberate Hawaii".

NEW MISSILE DEFENSE BASE PUBLIC HEARINGS IN FOUR STATES

Ground-based mid-course 'missile defense' systems are now deployed in Alaska and California. Congress has called for studies to determine where an east coast deployment site could be located

There are various kinds of 'missile defense' (MD) systems now being tested. The one with the very worst testing record is the Ground-based Mid-course program. It is very likely the most expensive of the MD programs because of the sheer difficulty of trying to have a bullet-hit-a-bullet in deep space at more than 15,000 mph. In the end the program is incredibly destabilizing as the entire MD program is all about being the shield to take out Russian or Chinese retaliatory response after a Pentagon first-strike attack on them. This stuff ain't theoretical either as the Space Command annually holds a computer war game to practice this very kind of an attack. We see the miniature version it being carried out by Israel in Gaza right now. You might call the Gaza attack by Israel as a field test of the Israel-US MD program.

The military industrial complex, and in particular the MD lobby, has been pushing Congress hard to deploy a US east coast interceptor site. The already bought-and-paid-for bunch in Washington has mandated that the Pentagon do a feasibility study to determine which of four states (Maine, New York, Michigan, Ohio) would be the best place to host the interceptor missile facility. Public hearings to work on the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) have been announced. They are listed below.

In the old days they'd have a public meeting where people were allowed to speak and hear from one another in the community. Now things have changed and they just do an information seminar with displays and pick people off one by one for feedback reducing the ability of citizens to communicate with one another. We could call it drowning democracy.

The timing of our Maine Peace Walk for a Sustainable Future(October 11-20) which will start in Rangeley (one of the sites in consideration for the base) could not be a more perfect fit. There will be three public hearings in Maine and I'll be working to get folks to attend and/or to write letters in opposition to the site. I hope folks in the other states under consideration will similarly respond. All US citizens should make comments - see info below for details.

Environmental Impact Statement

The 2013 National Defense
Authorization Act requires the MDA to prepare an Environmental Impact
Statement (EIS) to evaluate possible additional locations in the U.S.
best suited for future deployment of a Continental United States
Interceptor Site (CIS) capable of protecting the homeland against
threats from nations, such as North Korea and Iran. The existing
Ballistic Missile Defense System provides protection of the U.S. from a
limited ballistic missile attack, and the Department of Defense has
not made a decision to deploy or construct the CIS.

The MDA encourages all
interested members of the public, as well as federal, state, and local
agencies to participate in the scoping process for the preparation of
this EIS. The scoping process assists in determining the scope of
issues to be addressed and helps identify significant environmental
issues to be analyzed in depth in the EIS.

MDA will host scoping meetings in the local communities of
Ravenna, Ohio; Galesburg and Battle Creek, Mich.; Carthage, N.Y.; and
Rangeley and Farmington, Maine, to share information about the EIS
process, gather feedback and solicit comments.

The public meetings will be
in an open house format, which provides attendees with the opportunity
to talk with and ask questions of representatives from the MDA and
local installation. Additionally, you will have the opportunity to
provide verbal and written official comments on the proposed project.

Your input is important to ensure significant environmental issues, other areas of concern, and

alternatives are considered early in the EIS process.

As this EIS process moves forward, please continue to check back on
this site for updates, handouts, news releases and official reports.

Public comments on the scope of the EIS and environmental issues
that should be studied are requested pursuant to the National
Environmental Policy Act. All written comments received during the
comment period will become part of the public record and will be
considered during the preparation of the Draft EIS. Providing private
address information with your comment is voluntary and such personal
information will be kept confidential unless release is required by
law. Your address will be used to compile a mailing list so that you
may be notified of any future public meetings, and release of the Draft
EIS and Final EIS in the Federal Register. Failure to provide your
address will result in your name not being included on the list, and you
will not receive notifications about this project.

THE SICKNESS IN ISRAEL

This video shows an Israeli mob actually singing in celebration of
children’s deaths in the style of a soccer fans’ song: “In Gaza there’s
no studying, No children are left there, Olé, olé, olé-olé-olé.”

The mob also incites directly against Ahmed Tibi and Haneen Zoabi, two prominent Palestinian citizens of Israel who are members of the Knesset, Israel’s parliament.

The video of the 26 July event in Tel Aviv was published by Israeli journalist Haim Har-Zahav.
The words of the repulsive song have been translated for The Electronic Intifada by Dena Shunra:

Tibi – Ahmed Tibi
I wanted you to know
The next kid to be hurt will be your kid
I hate Tibi
I hate Tibi the terrorist.

Tibi – is dead!
Tibi – is dead!
Tibi – is dead!

Tibi is a terrorist.
Tibi is a terrorist.
Tibi is a terrorist.

They’ll take their papers away.
They’ll take their papers away.
They’ll take their papers away.
Olé, olé, olé-olé-olé
In Gaza there’s no studying
No children are left there,
Olé, olé, olé-olé-olé,

[Three lines, not entirely clear]

Who is getting nervous, I hear?
Zoabi, this here is the Land of Israel
This here is the Land of Israel, Zoabi
This here is the Land of the Jews
I hate you, I do, Zoabi
I hate all the Arabs.
Oh-oh-oh-oh
Gaza is a graveyard
Gaza is a graveyard
Gaza is a graveyard
Gaza is a graveyard

Sunday, July 27, 2014

TOUCHING WORDS FROM A REAL JOURNALIST

BURNING THE DRAFT NOTICES FROM KIEV

For
a couple of days now, I have posted various items showing the large
number of casualties amongst the Ukie forces fighting against
Novorussia, and I have observed with some amusement how many of you have
expressed doubts about the veracity of these figures. Today Nora drew
my attention to a short video of a Ukie army recruiting officer being
confronted by a crowd of civilians, mostly women, mostly mothers. The
video is a few days old, but this version is subtitled in English, so
please watch it now.

FOOT ON WAR PEDDLE

I am sick at heart about what
Israel (with full US backing) is doing to the people in Gaza. It is more
than cruel and shameful beyond imagination. The souls of Israel and the
USA are showing to be hollow. There have been many determined protests
across this nation in support of the Palestinians. Corporate dominated
media though covers all the bases and ensures that the whores in Washington
remain submissive and supine. None of us are doing enough to help.

Ukraine is another great travesty, so well scripted that Kiev and Tel
Aviv march in lockstep. NATO's Gladio must be working overtime on this one. The
Kiev regime is collapsing and the US will take full control and turn it into an
excuse to expand NATO operations there.

Russia and China (and possibly BRICS) stand in the way of full western corporate
control. That is what this is all about - and of course the world's
declining resources.

On Friday I was up early to drive (along with Maine activist Jason Rawn)
the route of our next peace walk through Maine which will happen on October
11-20. Maine Veterans for Peace is sponsoring the walk which will take us
from Rangeley, in the west-central part of the state, to North Berwick in the southern
leg of Maine near the New Hampshire border. We will likely call it the Maine
Walk for Peace and a Sustainable Future. The Nipponzan Myohoji Buddhist
order has been invited to lead the walk.

Located in Saco, Maine is General Dynamics Ordnance which last year got
a $225 million contract to build 50-caliber gun barrel kits. In North Berwick
is Pratt & Whitney (who during WWII made aircraft engines for the US and
Hitler), with their $2 billion contract in hand, to build F-35 Joint Strike
Fighter engines. Maine's economy is increasingly becoming
militarized. We need to set in motion more public discussion about
endless war spending verses a real future for the coming generations. Now
is the moment to act.

The peace walk route is about 165 miles and will also pass through Rangeley,
Phillips, Farmington, Livermore Falls, Lewiston, Gray, Portland, Saco and North
Berwick. We will have lots of chances to engage the public on these key
issues. We either move away from the current endless cycle of resource
wars or we will all be gone. Walking gives us a simple and still
relatively free way to reach our fellow citizens. It also allows us deep
connection with nature as we walk on the land and experience the daily cycles
of life. The drive on Friday to the mountains and lakes of Rangeley was
inspiring. The beauty is staggering and the human pace of life was
calm. By the time we got to Portland, and the summer beach mecca of Maine
to the south, the traffic was intense as that region is swarmed with tourists
who are escaping the heat of more southern locations. In those moments I
longed to be back up in Rangeley and reminded myself that some time off in a
more peaceful setting is in order before the summer is gone. I've yet to
go swimming once this summer and I hope to change that in the coming days.

Last night as MB,
Karen and I walked through Bath we were talking about all the current
madness. I said, "Now we know how it felt to live in Nazi
Germany" in the early days when being a "good German" meant
keeping your mouth shut and your foot on the war preparation peddle.
Just as German peace forces found then, it is hard to move a public that is hell
bent on fitting in and staying on the good side of those with power.